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CHAPTER SIXTY TWO - PROTECTIVE

I stayed mute as Latoya was standing in front of me, a neutral expression on her face. Her whole body was stiff, and her once bruised face seemed to have healed since I last saw her. A weird atmosphere settled in the loft, as not a sound was heard. Latoya's eyes were glossy as she was staring at me. When she took a step closer to me, her body started shaking, as if she would just crumble if she took yet another step.

"You were gone," she simply said in a barely audible voice. Apparently, this was my friends' cue to leave, as they both left the main room and disappeared in the hallway and to their room. "You were gone and you didn't even tell me."

"I was, but, Toya..." I sighed heavily, as I took another step forward. "I did tell you. Several times. I told you Michael planned this trip to Africa for months. Don't you remember?"

"N—No you didn't!" she raised her voice suddenly, and her eyes filled with tears. "I kept calling, a—and you weren't there! You were gone! How could you leave without even telling me?"

"Latoya, please calm down," I demanded gently, as I extended my hand for her to take. "Come on, come with me. Let's have a seat and talk about it."

"I—I don't want to seat down! I—I want to know why you didn't tell me!" she kept on crying, looking at me straight in the eyes. "You want to leave me too, that's why you didn't tell me?" she asked, yanking my hand away.

As she was doing so, I noticed some bruises on her wrist that she visibly tried to hide with multiple bracelets. In vain.

"N—No, this is not—"

"Then go ahead, abandon me like everybody around me! I should have known you'd leave at some point too, I'm so stupid," she said, as she turned around to leave.

"No, please don't leave!" I yelled, and grabbed her hand before she could make another move. "Toya, look at me," I begged, and she didn't budge. Her back was still facing me, and her eyes were still glued to the floor. "Please, look at me. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Are you, though?" she asked, turning around to face me again. "Huh?"

"Yes, I am truly sorry if I hurt you in any way because it was never my intention, believe me," I told her, squeezing her hand a bit. "But I swear to you that I did tell you I was leaving, Toya. I would have never left without telling you. You're family to me, I would never abandon you."

"But my entire entire family did, why wouldn't you, huh? What makes you different from them?"

"You abandoned them, they never stopped caring about you. Michael is worried, your mother is too. They love you, Toya, we all do," I tried to reassure her. "I'm sorry you felt abandoned, I'll make sure to make it up to you," I told her, as a tear escaped my eyes. Seeing her this disoriented made my heart ache. She wasn't herself anymore.

"You were gone," she repeated again, her eyes pooling with some fresh tears. "Y—You were nowhere to be found," she cried, and let herself fall in my arms. "I felt so alone, H—Hayley, y—you were gone."

I shushed her, rubbing her hair gently as I started crying myself. She was clearly in a state of shock, and no matter what I said, she couldn't forget the fact that I wasn't there when she clearly needed me. From the bruises on her wrist, I understood that Jack had beaten her, again. Anger was boiling in me when I realized how broken Latoya was because of him. He took everything from her: her trust, her self-esteem, and her whole life.

"I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere," I reassured her in a whisper as I had a lump in my throat. "I'm here."

"C—Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked, as she sniffled back her tears, holding me tightly.